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The Accordionist's Son
Bernardo Atxaga
The Accordionist's Son is a remarkably powerful and accomplished novel, exploring the life of David Imaz, a former inhabitant of the Basque village of Obaba, now living in exile and ill-health on a ranch in California.
As a young man, David divides his time between his uncle's ranch and his life in the village, where he reluctantly practises the accordion on the insistence of his authoritarian father. Increasingly aware of the long shadow cast by the Spanish Civil War, he begins to unravel the story of the conflict, his father's association with the fascists and his uncle's opposition and brave decision to hide a wanted republican.
Caught betweeen the two men, the course of his own life is changed forever when he agrees to shelter a group of students on the run from the military police.
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa.
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About Bernardo Atxaga
Reviews for The Accordionist's Son
Times Literary Supplement
A briliantly inventive writer... terribly moving and wildly funny
A. S. Byatt This most delicate and personal of novels packs a powerful political message
Independent
Incredibly powerful... magnificently written
Financial Times
A magical novel that exlores friendship and memory, language and loss
Metro
In all his work, Atxaga delves into the impact of the political on individual lives. What is most moving in The Accordionist's Son is the push and counter-push of these pressures on a believable individual (and Margaret Jull Costa's elegant and unfussy translation gives us a clear view of him in English)
Guardian
Bernardo Atxaga's books are performing an important service to his people and his language
Times Literary Supplement
Charming and compelling
Big Issue
Each character is a world, a story marvellously integrated into the whole...A master storyteller has become a fabulous chronicler of reality. If Obabakoak charmed us, The Accordionist's Son charms and moves us
La Vanguardia
This is a richly textured, beautifully-written glimpse into a world that makes its otherworldliness felt
Sunday Business Post